TaylorMade Golf Iron Reviews

With exclusive interviews with TaylorMade's acclaimed product design team and authentic reviews from players like you, our TaylorMade iron reviews will provide you with everything you need to know to make a better, more informed choice when it comes to your next iron set. View all our golf club reviews and more exclusive stories on the TGW Golf Guide.

TaylorMade P790 Irons Review

TGW customer Cliff offers his thoughts after hitting the new TaylorMade P790 irons.

While TaylorMade’s new P790 irons were released a few months after their stablemates P770 and P750, it would be incorrect to believe that they were something of an afterthought.

In fact, TaylorMade always planned to offer an iron in the P700 series that provides the performance P790 does; it just took time from a design standpoint to get it exactly right in terms of the combination of distance and feel that TaylorMade was looking for.

“Our big goal with with the 700 series was to get max COR into a players iron,” said Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade Senior Director of Global Irons. “The P790 targets a scratch player or skilled player who’s looking for more distance but also the player who’s ready to graduate into a more refined set, something that looks better, feels better, and allows them to start working the ball.”

To get the look and feel that they wanted from the P790, as well as the increased distance and launch numbers, TaylorMade’s engineers were forced to take on a complicated construction process, especially in terms of the finding the perfect materials to build the iron they envisioned.

“We knew that to get the performance we needed and the feel we needed we had to go to a hollow forged construction,” Bystedt added. “A lot of the materials we tried had detriment to the COR, so we we actually worked with our golf ball R&D team. They understood our challenges."

“There were lots of players tests conducted, internally and externally, to get what we wanted. And we definitely wanted to make it different than anything that’s out there.”

The key technological component in the design, and where the golf ball R&D team was of significant help from a development standpoint, is what TaylorMade is calling SpeedFoam.

What is SpeedFoam and how does it fit into the P790’s construction?

“The way it works is the back of the iron is 8620 carbon steel and the face is a 4140 steel that’s harder but thinner and faster, and that let’s us get a clubface that’s just 1.75mm thick,” Bystedt explained. “The SpeedFoam is then injected as a liquid into the head and it expands with air contact to fill the clubhead.”

The SpeedFoam serves two important functions in the design. First, it supports the P790’s ultra-thin clubface, which has been implemented to produce incredible ball speeds. Second, it helps provides a soft, responsive feel and sound at impact, something that can pose challenges when working with a thinner clubface.

The end result is that golfers are getting an iron that provides the soft, crisp feel of a traditional forged players iron with the explosive distance of a game-improvement iron, the latter of which has been revealed in testing that TaylorMade conducted between the P770 and P790.

“Right now, what we’re seeing with the 770 is a five-to-eight yard distance gain with 790, and with the 4-iron it’s more like 12 yards, which is pretty significant,” Bystedt said.

In addition to a unique combination of look, feel, and distance, P790 irons are also offering impressive forgiveness for a players iron.

Making that possible is the use of tungsten weighting to establish an optimal CG position as it relates to maximizing MOI.

Additionally, a highly flexible cut-thru Speed Pocket on the sole of the club provides forgiveness on low-center hits and also helps protect ball speed on shots struck from the heel or toe, with the result being improved distance consistency on mis-hits.

P790 irons are being offered with stock shaft options in steel and graphite, with the True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 being the steel option and the UST Recoil being the graphite choice. TaylorMade also has other premium shafts available at no upcharge for players in need of a different profile.

TaylorMade’s M CGB an explosive super game-improvement entry

TaylorMade M CGB Irons Customer Review

When it comes to irons, the super game-improvement space is one in which TaylorMade has had success through the years but also one in which TaylorMade doesn’t always have an entry.

The reason for the latter is pretty simple, according to Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade Senior Director of Global Irons.

“We’ve been successful in the past with super game-improvement products, and it’s a category we sort of move in and out of,” Bystedt explained. “But we want to make sure that when we make irons that they have a purpose. We want irons that stand on their own.”

With its new M CGB irons, TaylorMade believes it has created an iron that’s unique to the marketplace and also a great complement to its M1 and M2 irons.

Golfers who are familiar with TaylorMade products through the years will likely remember the CGB name, most notably from the R7 CGB irons, which were incredibly popular thanks to the impressive combination of distance and forgiveness they provided.

The new M CGB irons will excel in those two areas as well, as engineers have established max COR through the set while also increasing MOI.

“If your goal as a golfer is to hit every club longer, this is the iron for you,” said Bystedt. “And it’s 15 percent higher MOI (than M2) also, so it’s just a very easy club to play.”

To create the combination of distance and forgiveness that M CGB provides, TaylorMade utilized every iron technology it had at its disposal.

More specifically, the M CGB irons feature an incredibly thin clubface that helps promote faster ball speeds, and Face Slots on the clubface and a Speed Pocket on the sole protect ball speed on off-center strikes to improve performance on mis-hits.

The clubheads also feature tungsten weighting to improve stability and promote effortless launch, and the use of a fluted hosel saves weight to help create a low, deep CG position that enhances MOI and produces a naturally high ball flight.

Additionally, TaylorMade has utilized an advanced Hybrar damper and 3D sound-managing badge to create a softer feel than most super game-improvement irons can provide.

All of those features also enabled designers to take one additional step to make the M CGB long irons even easier to play.

“With all of that technology, we were able to weaken the long irons to help players get the ball in the air and maximize distance,” Bystedt said.

Of course, some golfers will be wondering what exactly differentiates the M CGB irons from TaylorMade’s popular M2 irons.

In addition to the higher MOI, the answer lies in the performance that the short irons will offer.

“The M2 is a very good iron, a very fast iron,” said Bystedt. “But there’s still a progression in nature where in the shorter irons you’re still giving the golfer more control."

“With the M CGB, what we wanted to do is create an iron for the player who wants max distance through the bag. These irons are max distance and max COR all the way through the set, so there’s the opportunity to hit it farther with every club and get it in the air easier with every club.”

The new M CGB irons are being offered with TaylorMade Dual Feel grips, as well as stock shaft options in both graphite and steel. The Nippon N.S. Pro 840 is the steel option, while the UST Recoil 460 ES is the graphite option. That said, TaylorMade will offer additional premium shafts at no upcharge for players who need a different fit profile.

Helping you choose the right TaylorMade irons for your game

TaylorMade P770 & P750 Irons at the 2017 PGA Show

TaylorMade 2017 M Irons at the PGA Show

TGW goes in-depth with TaylorMade's Tomo Bystedt about new M family irons.

With its planned fall releases of the P790, M CGB, and P730, TaylorMade will be offering golfers seven irons to choose from in its current lineup.

While that might seem like a hefty number, upon closer examination it becomes evident that each iron targets specific types of players, and there’s not a great deal of overlap.

For golfers who are trying to decide which TaylorMade iron is right for them, the first step in the process would be to decide whether they’re looking for a game-improvement iron or a players iron, as TaylorMade has done a quality job of clearly separating those two categories.

In the players iron category, TaylorMade is offering all of its P700 series models; the P730, P750, P770, and P790.

Conversely, in the game-improvement category, TaylorMade is offering golfers three M family options: the M1, M2, and new M CGB.

Here’s a closer look at the various options within each of those two categories:

Game-Improvement Irons: As mentioned, the game-improvement irons that TaylorMade is offering are the M1, M2, and M CGB, all of which are cast clubs from a construction standpoint.

Each of those irons has been designed to give players impressive distance, high launch conditions, and significant forgiveness. But there are nuances within each to fit different types of players.

In terms of the M CGB, it was designed strictly for distance, as each club in the set has been created with a clubface that offers max COR and incredibly high MOI. These are irons that were constructed for high-handicap players and those with modest swing speeds who need all of the technological help they can get to hit better iron shots.

“We tested this iron with a slower swing speed type of player and for them this is by far the longest iron we’ve ever made,” said TaylorMade Senior Director of Global Irons Tomo Bystedt of the M CGB.

The M2, meanwhile, will offer similar performance in the long irons as the M CGB, but the set features a more progressive design with short irons that will offer more versatility and control.

A high-handicap player could certainly play the M2 irons, which were slimmed down for 2017, but mid-handicappers who are looking for distance and launch but still want some level of workability with their scoring clubs would also be a great candidate for the M2.

As for the M1, it features a much more compact blade shape than its M family stablemates, as well as a thinner topline and slightly less offset.

The result is that mid-handicap golfers get impressive ball speeds and launch conditions in a design that will give them an enhanced ability to shape shots as they get better, which would also make the M1 a candidate for some lower-handicappers who value its game-improvement attributes.

Players Irons: In its P700 series, TaylorMade is offering four models, the 730, 750, 770, and 790, each of which is a forged iron and earned its name based on its blade length.

Of those four, the P730, which is a true muscleback design that will be available in late October, will fit the fewest number of players, as it was created for the game’s truly elite ball-strikers.

“The 730s, there is no forgiveness in this product,” said Bystedt. “We basically designed this product for three players: Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose.”

The P750 was also created for elite ball-strikers and is getting significant play on professional tours around the world. While its cavity design will offer a minor level of forgiveness, this is an iron that at address looks like a traditional blade and was created to provide exceptional control and workability.

Common to both the P730 and P750 is that they were intentionally designed with low inertia, which directly equates to a lack of forgiveness.

“These players are looking for maximum workability,” said Bystedt of candidates for the P730 and P750. “They want an iron that’s very low inertia. If there’s too much inertia, they have to work too hard to shape the ball. They want it to be easy to work the ball.”

All said, unless you’re a low single-digit golfer (or better), the 730 and 750 probably aren’t the right choice for your game. If you are of that caliber, however, the choice will come down to aesthetics, with traditional blade players likely to opt for the P730.

As for the P770, it offers tour-level workability, control, and feel, but it was also designed to give better players enhanced forgiveness, which comes most notably through the use of a cavity design and significant tungsten weighting in the long and mid-irons.

The P790, meanwhile, was designed to give golfers a forged iron that offers feel and workability but also incredible distance and launch conditions.

Given all of its attributes, the 790 might appeal to the widest range of players in the TaylorMade lineup, and as one might expect, on the surface, there might appear to be some crossover with other TaylorMade irons, most notably the P770 and M1.

According to Bystedt, that’s not really the case, however.

“When comparing the 790 to the 770, with the 770 you’re looking at a good ball-striker who’s looking for control and not really distance at this point,” explained Bystedt. “And then with the M1, you’re looking at a completely different sole geometry and feel when compared with the 790, and they sound completely different.”

TaylorMade P770 & P750 Irons at the 2017 PGA Show

TaylorMade P770 & P750 Irons at the 2017 PGA Show

While TaylorMade has earned its greatest accolades in recent years for the drivers it has brought to market, most notably the wildly successful M1 and M2 models, it also has proven to be a formidable force when it comes to players irons.

And truth be told, with the incredible roster of touring professionals that TaylorMade claims, a list comprised of players who demand consistent performance as well as exceptional look and feel, that probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

What’s also not surprising is that TaylorMade relies heavily on those players when it comes to building a players iron, and that was certainly the case with the new P750 and P770 irons.

“It (was) a very meticulous process of dialing in exactly what’s going to resonate with the best players in the world,” said TaylorMade Senior Director of Global Irons Tomo Bystedt, adding that roughly three years went into the development process. “We spent a lot of time especially with Justin Rose, but also Jason Day and Dustin Johnson, even Sergio Garcia and guys like that, to get all their feedback.”

As TaylorMade engineers worked through the various feedback that they received from those world-class players, one thing became immediately evident.

“We really came down to the fact that we needed two different products,” Bystedt explained. “They’re both forged, 1025 carbon steel, very soft feeling irons. Both of them have very limited offset, thinner toplines, shorter blades, like a good player would be wanting to look at. Cosmetically, they’re similar, but under the hood there’s (a) pretty big difference between the two.”

Here’s a closer look at each of the two models, how they differ, and what players can expect from a performance standpoint:

P770: In creating the new P770 irons, TaylorMade wanted to give better players the clean, classic look they want, the soft feel they demand, and the ability to control the golf ball that they rely on to shoot lower scores.

But TaylorMade also wanted to provide those same players with higher launch, a little bit more forgiveness, and modest distance gains in the long and mid irons, a combination that leads to enhanced playability.

Engineers realized that goal through the use of strategically placed tungsten weighting in the 3-iron through 7-iron.

“In the 770, what we’ve done there is remove the back part of the sole and replaced it with 70 grams of tungsten,” Bystedt said. “What that’s doing for us is lowering the CG of the product and also spreading the inertia from heel to toe, and that’s going to create a very centric CG first of all but also a little bit more forgiveness.”

The 8-iron through pitching and gap wedge, however, do not utilize the tungsten weighting and therefore will play like a more traditional blade, which means a lower, more controllable ball flight that’s ideal on scoring shots.

Also unique in the P770 irons is a new sole design that’s a little bit flatter and features a medium camber to help improve turf interaction for better results on slight mis-hits.

And finally, the 770’s grooves and clubface have been milled to ensure optimal consistency as it relates to spin, ball flight and trajectory.

In terms of a stock shaft, the P770s come standard with KBS Tour FLT steel shafts, while the stock grip is the Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360.

TaylorMade, however, does have a variety of premium shafts that are available at no upcharge for players who need a different profile to choose from.

P750: While the P770 irons were designed to offer golfers added playability in a players iron, that’s not really the case with the P750 irons, which have been created for the game’s truly elite ball-strikers.

And first and foremost, ball-strikers of that caliber want to be able to control the golf ball, both in terms of flight and trajectory.

“With the 750, this one is really designed to replace a muscleback type iron,” Bystedt said “We’re keeping that CG a little bit higher in the head, a little more heel-ward, (to) make it very workable.”

That’s not to say, however, that TaylorMade hasn’t taken any measures to make the P750 irons a little bit more player-friendly than a traditional blade.

“We really looked at the muscleback as a template,” Bystedt explained. “Really what’s different though about this versus an MB is, especially as you get to the mid and long irons, they’re more forgiving thanks to obviously the cavity back but also we use tungsten in the sole to raise that ball flight a little bit in the long irons.”

As a comparison, however, only five grams of tungsten is used in the 3-iron through 7-iron of the P750s as opposed to the 70 grams used in the P770s.

The P750 irons also feature more compact blades and thinner toplines than the P770 irons, but like the P770s their grooves and faces have been milled to promote consistent spin and flight.

The P750 irons come standard with True Temper Dynamic Gold steel shafts, although there are several other premium options available at no upcharge as well, and with Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grips.

TaylorMade’s versatile M1 irons have something to offer everyone

TaylorMade 2017 M Irons at the PGA Show

TGW goes in-depth with TaylorMade's Tomo Bystedt about new M family irons.

Brand new to the M family from TaylorMade for 2017 are M1 irons, which are proving to be a perfect complement to the highly popular M2 irons.

M2, of course, has been a huge success with recreational players for a number of reasons, but headlining that list are the extreme distance and high launch conditions they produce.

For 2017, TaylorMade streamlined the look and size of its new M2 irons. But while they are noticeably smaller than the original M2s, there’s still no mistaking that this is a true game-improvement iron.

M1, on the other hand, would be much harder to categorize. These are irons that offer incredible game-improvement attributes, but those attributes are offered in a clubhead that many would consider most similar to a players cavity back.

“The M1 iron has a very similar overall look to the M2 and actually a lot of the same technologies as M2,” said Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade Senior Director of Global Irons. “We have the fluted hosel, we have the 360-degree undercut, we have the Speed Pocket and the Face Slots. What’s really different is that it’s in a more compact head shape.”

In terms of the game-improvement performance that the M1 irons offer, Face Slots and Speed Pockets are the most crucial aspects of the design.

Face Slots enable more flexing of the clubface toward the heel and toe to keep ball speeds high from impact point across the face while also enhancing launch conditions. The Speed Pocket, meanwhile, also helps increase launch, and it provides ball speed protection on shots that are struck low on the face.

That technology combination helps provide exceptional distance, launch, and forgiveness, but it’s not all that TaylorMade has done to create incredible playability in the M1 irons.

“How we unlock that performance while still maintaining a smaller head shape is through the use of tungsten in the sole,” Bystedt said. “It allows us to create a lower CG and more inertia without making the iron bigger overall.”

More specifically, 15 grams of high-density tungsten has been utilized in the 3-iron through 7-iron to help players launch the ball higher with their long and mid irons while also enjoying more consistent performance on mis-hits.

Also noteworthy when it comes to M1 is its redesigned fluted hosel. As is the case with M2, the use of a fluted hosel helps save weight, which allows the CG to be positioned lower and deeper in the clubhead. But for M1 specifically, the fluted hosel has a more traditional look, which fits in nicely from an aesthetics standpoint with the more compact design.

As mentioned, with their thinner toplines, limited offset, and shorter blade lengths, the M1 irons look like a players cavity back, and TaylorMade has invested significant time in trying to make their feel match their look.

That process involved the implementation of Geocoustic Engineering, which is a significant design component in TaylorMade’s entire M2 line, both woods and irons alike.

Goecoustic Engineering combines the use of geometrical shaping and acoustic management to create a preferred sound and feel at impact. In the case of the M1 irons, the use of fin badges helps dampen sound and vibration at impact, which provides feel and acoustics that are crisp and solid.

Of course, with the introduction of the M1 irons, players now have a decision to make when it comes to the M family iron that’s best suited for their game.

Given that both irons will offer impressive distance, launch, and forgiveness, the ultimate decision will most likely come down to look and the added benefits of playing a more compact iron.

“If you’re the player who likes to work the ball potentially, wants to hit some knockdown shots, likes to work it left to right a little bit, the M1 is going to be more for you,” Bystedt said.

TaylorMade’s new M1 irons are being offered with either True Temper XP 95 steel shafts or Mitsubishi Kuro Kage Silver graphite shafts as a stock option, with other custom choices also available at no upcharge for players in need of a different profile.

Set compositions ranging from 3-iron through sand wedge are available, and the stock grip for the M1 irons is the Lamkin UTX-P.

2017 M2 Irons — R & D In Depth

When TaylorMade introduced the original M2 irons, it was as if the public had been given a game-improvement iron on steroids.

The distance, forgiveness, and launch conditions that the M2 irons generated was simply incredible, and they quickly became a hit with recreational players of all ability levels.

If there was a knock on the original M2 iron, however, it was most often related to the look and feel of the club.

So when it came to redesigning the M2 irons for 2017, TaylorMade started by addressing those areas while also looking for ways to even further increase performance.

In terms of look, the new M2 irons have a much smaller profile than their predecessor, as they feature a 33 percent thinner topline and a blade height that’s seven percent shallower.

Feel has also been improved thanks to Geocoustic engineering, as 3-D dampening and an enhanced rib structure combine to deliver a softer feel and sound at impact.

Those changes, however, are only part of the story when it comes to the new M2 iron.

“What we wanted to do was take all of the benefit we had and add some more,” said Josh Dipert, TaylorMade Product Engineer for Irons. “Add even more speed, more height, but then include something new, which is greater consistency.”

As it relates to improved consistency, Face Slots have now been incorporated into the M2’s design, which helps maintain higher ball speeds on shots struck from the heel or toe.

Additionally, the Speed Pocket has been redesigned, as it’s now thinner and deeper to allow the clubface to flex more at impact for higher ball speeds. That speed is also better preserved on shots struck low on the face.

“It was really important to add Face Slots on the new M2,” Dipert said. “We’re able to give distance, height, and now forgiveness as well. With our testing on the new M2, we found that your off-center hits are not dropping off as far as it would be without Face Slots.”

Engineers have also utilized a lighter fluted hosel in the design, which enables a lower center of gravity for higher launch and more stability at impact, and a new bend slot has been positioned on the hosel to give players more flexibility in terms of adjusting lie angle to fit their needs.

“The M2 is really designed for every golfer out there,” said Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade Senior Director of Global Irons. “It’s got forgiveness, it’s got distance, it’s easy to play. It’s got a great look and feel to it as well.”

TaylorMade will again be offering both steel and graphite stock shaft options in the M2 irons. The steel shaft will be the REAX 88 HL by FST, while the graphite option will be the M2 REAX, which will vary in weight between 55 and 75 grams depending on what flex is chosen. The stock grip will be the TaylorMade Dual Feel ribbed.

The new M2 irons will also be available for women and will come with TaylorMade Reax 45 graphite shafts and Winn Dual Feel grips.

Additionally, M2 irons are available as part of combo sets from TaylorMade that feature a combination of M2 irons and M2 rescue clubs. For men, set compositions can include either a 4- and 5-rescue and 6-iron through gap wedges or a 3- and 4-rescue and 5-iron through pitching wedge, while a women’s combo set includes the 4- and 5-rescues and 6-iron through sand wedge.

TaylorMade 2016 M2 and M2 Tour Irons

2016 TaylorMade M2 Irons

2016 TaylorMade M2 Irons

2016 TaylorMade M2 Irons: TaylorMade’s ultimate goal when it came to the M2 iron was to create a club that delivered amazing distance without sacrificing trajectory in an effort to make it easier for recreational players to hit better approach shots. After all, as TaylorMade says, “Distance will get you to the green, but distance and height will help you stay there.” Additionally, the M2 was designed to provide exceptional forgiveness on mis-hits, which will help golfers improve from a consistency standpoint. Make no mistake about it, this is a classic game-improvement iron. However, look and feel were also strongly taken into account from a design standpoint.

2016 Taylormade M2 Tour Irons

2016 Taylormade M2 Tour Irons

2016 TaylorMade M2 Tour Irons: In creating the M2 Tour iron, TaylorMade’s engineers set out to combine all of the attributes of an elite game-improvement iron, most notably exceptional distance, high trajectory and max forgiveness, with the clean, compact look of a players club. The technology utilized in the M2 iron to deliver impressive results in terms of trajectory, distance, and forgiveness are still evident in M2 Tour, but the appearance of the club has been streamlined to suit the eye of the better player, as the overall profile of the clubhead is smaller and features a thinner topline and less offset. Additionally, M2 Tour provides the feel and impact sound more often found in a players club.